They are 18 and prom is just around the corner. He wants to ask her to what is supposed to be the greatest night of their high school lives, but he takes just a bit too long working up the nerve, and when he finally approaches her and tries to nonchalantly suggest that they go together she already has a date.
With Dallas.
Of course.
Fate would decide to screw with him like that.
So he asks Kaitlin from his English class (because she's nice and unimpressed with his celebrity and, most importantly of all, she is not Brooke), and everyone has a decent enough time dining and dancing in the Miami Marriott's grand ballroom. He even manages to get in a dance or two with Ally, although Dallas monopolizes all of the slow ones (So much for not knowing how to slow dance, he thinks bitterly to himself). Near the end of the night he wanders off to the terrace that overlooks the marina. Scattered about the terrace are tables and chairs, but everyone else must still be in the ballroom (or have already sneaked off to hotel rooms), because they are all empty.
He stares out at the water, and for a few minutes he allows himself the luxury of wondering what it might have been like to come here with Ally; to have worn a red boutonniere instead of a purple one.
"Penny for your thoughts?" a cheerful voice inquires. Ally bounds into view, her hair a bit mussed and the strap of her red dress hanging off her shoulder (From the dancing, Austin reassures himself, it's definitely just from the dancing). "Sorry," she laughs at his startled expression. She straightens her strap and joins him at the delicate, white iron fence. "Things got a bit crazy after they announced Prom King and Queen – it was Parker and Rachel, by the way—"
"Nice."
"Apparently you were a very close second," she adds, nudging him with her shoulder. "Anyway, I saw you disappear so I thought I'd follow. You don't mind, do you?"
He doesn't, but even if he did he's pretty sure his annoyance would disappear after one look at her eager face. "Nah, it's cool," he tells her. They fall into a comfortable silence as they take in the view together. The water crashes lightly against the docked boats, and he feels the start of a light breeze. From the corner of his eye he sees a stray curl blowing across Ally's face, and it takes everything in him not to reach out and push it behind her ear.
"Where are Trish and Dez?" he asks in an attempt to distract himself.
"I think Dez is still 'filming for posterity,' and last I checked Trish was busy, uh, making out with Roger." Her cheeks turn the slightest shade of pink, and now more than ever Austin wishes he could read her thoughts (or maybe it's better that he can't; god knows what he would do if he heard her thinking about, well, her date).
Speaking of: "And, uh, Dallas?" He does his best to sound uninterested, and either he is a much better actor than he (or anyone else) gives himself credit for, or Ally is too distracted to notice.
"Oh, he's dancing with Sally Thompson," she answers.
Austin raises an eyebrow. "You're okay with that?"
She shrugs. "Sure. I wanted to get some air and he wanted to keep dancing, and Sally didn't come with anyone. Anyway, I like Dallas – as a friend – but that whole crush thing ended a while ago."
"Why'd you come with him then?" Austin finds himself asking before he can realize what he is doing and shut the hell up.
Ally looks bemused. "Because he asked, and he isn't the worst person to spend an evening with. Besides, it's not like I was going to get any other invitation. Not that there's anything wrong with coming alone!" she adds quickly. "I just figured we'd have a fun time together. And we did." She turns her attention back to the marina, as if there is nothing left to say.
It must be "foot in mouth" night, because Austin can't seem to stop asking questions that are sure to put them in an awkward situation. "What if I had asked?"
"Huh?" She glances over at him.
"If I had asked you to prom. What would you have done?"
Their eyes lock. Ally's lips part open in surprise, and memories of what it was like to kiss her flood his brain. Austin clenches his fingers into a fist. He will not grab her and kiss her he will not grab her and kiss her he will not… After what feels like an eternity she swallows and answers, "Then I … I guess I wouldn't have come here with Dallas."
She's staring up at him with cautious, almost hopeful eyes, and his heart starts beating out of his chest. His mantra long forgotten, he takes a step closer, followed by another, and another, until he can see the marina lights reflected in her eyes. He hears her breathing quicken, but she doesn't back away or break her gaze. He leans in, about to close the distance, when a voice calls out, "There you two are!" They quickly part and turn around to face Dez. "The limo's about to leave. We were this close to leaving you behind."
"Sorry," Ally calls to him, a blush gracing her cheeks for the second time that night. She glances over at Austin, nervously biting down on her lip as she waits for his response. He wants to tell her that they can spare another minute – they're the ones who put in most of the money for the limo, after all (although somehow he doesn't think that will prevent Trish from leaving without them). But he doesn't.
"We should, uh, we should get going." He swears Ally's face falls at his words, but a second later she is smiling brightly as ever as she voices her agreement, and he wonders if it was all in his mind.
The limo takes them all back to Marino High for After Prom. When they enter the school Austin tries to grab Ally for a moment – to at least talk about what happened – but Trish immediately whisks her away to get their portraits done by a caricaturist and catch her up on all of the latest prom gossip.
"Hey, you wouldn't mind if I went to hang out with Jess and Lily, would you?" Kaitlin says.
"Huh?" Austin asks, preoccupied with the sight of Ally's retreating figure. "Oh, no, sure, that's fine. I, uh, had a good time, by the way. Thanks for coming with me."
Kaitlin smiles. "Same here."
She walks away, leaving Austin alone with his thoughts … which immediately turn to Ally.
It's probably best just to let it go, he reasons to himself. A relationship complicated everything last time. They decided to just be friends for a reason.
Because you weren't ready to be a couple just yet, a voice reminds him. He quiets it. In three months Ally heads off to Philadelphia for college and he leaves for L.A. to become a full-time recording artist. Now is not the time to start a relationship.
If not now, when?
#####
They are 20 and Austin is performing for a sold-out arena at Madison Square Garden. He ends the night with "I Got That Rock N' Roll," and from the side of the stage Ally shakes her head in slight amusement as she watches him soak in the attention. This number has a tendency to rile up the female fans, and Ally knows that Austin is well aware of this (what he's not aware of is how her breath catches in her chest as she watches him take complete control of the stage). When he finally drags himself to the wings he is beaming and out of breath, and it's like every last inch of him is glowing. He spots Ally right away and grabs her, spinning her in a hug that lifts her clear off the ground. She laughs, more than accustomed to Austin's post-performance high but always thrilled when she is the object of the enthusiasm.
"Enjoyed yourself out there, huh?" she teases when he finally places her back on her feet. Austin rolls his eyes at her clear insinuation. "The girls were all over you again. Imagine."
#
Austin wants to say something cheesy, like, "You're the only girl for me," but he's pretty sure that would violate the "just friends" thing they have had going for the last four years. Instead he shoves her lightly and tells her to shut up. "Like the guys weren't all over you in our last duet," he adds for good measure.
"Oh, right, they just love the ballads."
He decides it is best not to tell her that he spent that entire number completely mesmerized by her presence. (He just hopes to god his face didn't make it completely obvious, because chances are that come tomorrow some audience member will have posted the concert to the internet.)
They join up with Trish and Dez, effectively ending the conversation. Austin glances at Ally from the corner of his eye as she and Trish discuss plans for downtime next week ("Ally, it's going to be the middle of August in D.C. – there's no way I'm dragging myself from monument to monument, waiting for my hair to frizz").
She thinks he always finishes up with "Rock N' Roll" so he can go out with an ego boost, and, okay, that is definitely part of it. But more than anything else it's because he knows she will be watching him from the side of the stage (because it always takes at least twenty minutes for her to change into more casual clothes and remove the stage make up, and while she is more than willing to join Austin for a few numbers she is yet to stay on for the encore performances, so she usually leaves the stage one number before Austin takes his first bow— and wow he really hopes it doesn't sound incredibly creepy that he has taken the time to figure all of this out).
Not that he would ever tell her the real reason behind his song choice. Expressing a desire for his best friend to see him perform what critics call his "most commanding performance" would also probably be a clear violation of their "Just Friends" rule.
He's really starting to hate that rule.
#####
They are 21 and– well, actually, Ally's not 21 – not quite yet. Her birthday is in two and a half hours (seven hours and 22 minutes, if one wants to be exact). She spends most of that evening in the library, poring over her textbooks. Most of her friends are pre-med or studying abroad, so she had resigned herself to a rather quiet birthday alone. The last thing she expects as she walks into her apartment is to find Austin standing in the living space she shares with her two – currently absent – roommates, yelling, "Surprise!" and grinning ear to ear.
"Austin?" she gapes, so taken aback that she doesn't even bother to start removing the many layers of outerwear that protect her from the Philadelphia winter. "What are you…? I thought you were finishing up your tour!"
"I am," he says, still smiling. "But I made sure nothing was scheduled for today and tomorrow so I could be here. Like I would really miss the chance to see Ally Dawson have her first real drink."
Slight bemusement starts to replace her shock. "It's not like you've never seen me drink before," she points out, then quickly adds, "Not that I'm not glad you're here." She walks toward her room and Austin follows behind her like an eager puppy.
"Oh, c'mon, three sips of champagne at New Year's does not count. I'm talking a drink with some actual alcohol in there! With no parental supervision!" Ally raises an eyebrow, not yet convinced. "It'll be great! It's 9:30 now, so we'll get to a bar around – what? – ten, spend the next two hours drinking Shirley Temples or virgin daiquiris, and when the clock strikes midnight you'll order your first 'I'm officially 21' drink!"
"I don't know," she says wearily. "I'm not sure if I'm up for such a clichéd 21st birthday celebration. And I have class tomorrow."
"Ally, it's clichéd for a reason," he laughs. "But if you'd rather stay here then that's cool, too. It's your birthday."
"Thanks, Austin. I appreciate it." She starts taking off her coat, only for Austin to intercept with a grab of her shoulders.
"But—"
"I should've known there was a 'but' in there," Ally groans.
"But," Austin repeats, "and it's still totally your call, are you sure you want to wake up twenty years from now wishing you had had that one stereotypical college night out?"
"I'm pretty sure that's not going to be what I'm regretting when I'm in my 40s."
"Hey, you never know. It's just something to think about."
Ally twists her upper lip, thinking over his words and her schedule for the next day. Her first class isn't until 10:30, and she has already finished her assignments for the week…. If they get back by one or two am and she goes straight to bed then that should be enough sleep to get her through the day. Austin's staring down at her eagerly, and the more she thinks about it the more appealing his suggestion starts to sound. "Okay, one drink," she relents.
Austin lets go of her to pump his fist in the air. Ally presses her lips together, trying not to laugh. "I think you're more excited about my birthday than I am," she comments, shrugging her coat back on and grabbing her purse.
"That's probably right."
Once Austin's outfitted in the appropriate winter attire he grabs her gloved hand with his own and pulls her in the direction of the front door. They make their way to one of the local bars that Austin had apparently looked up days earlier, and despite the freezing weather Ally smiles to herself. There are worst ways to spend the first minutes of your 21st birthday than at a bar with your best friend.
A/N: I haven't written anything in a long time, and I was sort of experimenting with the structure of the fic, so apologies if any of this felt rough. This also happens to be my first Austin/Ally fic, so hopefully my characterization isn't too off. I hope you've you enjoyed so far!
(Fic title taken from Sara Bareilles's "1000 Times.")